An ad hoc committee will work with counterparts in the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS) and other organizations to convene three Pakistan-U.S. workshops to promote best laboratory practices in and improved communications among academic, industrial, and government public-health and animal-health laboratories to enhance their effectiveness and to promote positive, cooperative relationships between U.S. and Pakistani clinical and research experts. The project consists of three workshops.
At the first exploratory workshop, which builds on past academy-to-academy interactions in Pakistan and past National Academies work on laboratory practices, invited experts will describe best practices, share challenges that affect laboratory performance and current obstacles to better communication, and discuss ideas for sustainable enhancement of laboratory and laboratory-network effectiveness. The workshop agenda will also include topics that explore ideas for future joint projects and activities that will further support disease surveillance and health security in Pakistan. A rapporteur-authored proceedings of the workshop will be published.

The second workshop will detail the principles of leadership, healthy culture, facilities, equipment and procedures, technologies, quality operations, personal training and management, mentorship, laboratory safety, and laboratory security, all tailored specifically to the laboratory environment in Pakistan. PAS intends to generate a PAS publication from this activity. There will be no written product from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine from the second workshop.

The third workshop will promote implementation of best laboratory practices in and improved communications among academic, private, and government human- and animal-health laboratories. Specifically designed to build upon material in the planned PAS publication mentioned above, the workshop will focus on putting into practice essential principles of laboratory management, safe and secure use of equipment, quality operations, and effective training. To increase the likelihood of buy-in among key decision makers, the workshop will include representatives from private, academic, and government human- and animal-health clinical laboratories across Pakistan’s provinces and territories, as well as representatives from relevant federal and provincial government agencies. Through close coordination, it will also reinforce efforts by the Pakistani government to develop a roadmap for strengthening the core capacities required for implementation of the International Health Regulations, as outlined in the Joint External Evaluation and forthcoming National Implementation Plan. A rapporteur-authored proceedings of the third workshop may be published by the National Academies.